#he chooses to die fully instead of play at being alive

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

literally no one was doing it like natsuno yuuki. he was genre savvy but he was also fucking gay so he still died. after his death he started dressing like the google search results for gay vampire. his only friends were his homoerotic bestie, an adult medical professional speed running his descent into madness, and two random kids he dug up his stalker’s grave with. he became a vampire and was immediately better at it than all of the other vampires but he thought they were bitches so he didn’t even tell them he turned. his last words was that he was never going to make it out of that town alive but if anyone could have it was him and that’s what makes him so tragic. he died trying to save someone who was never ever going to save him back. he wasn’t afraid to die because he was already dead. he burned the entire town to the ground mourning his own death and he didn’t do it to save a single goddamn person, he did it because they murdered him and he was going to fucking hurt them back for it. I’m obsessed with him

[justagaycryptid]

I feel that regarding Morgott/Tarnished pairings there’s an untapped market regarding the transitional period that there would be between the start of the relationship and the point where it actually is healthy

Like it would take a lot of effort on the Tarnished’s part to actually get Morgott to simply just be amicable to them. Like it wouldn’t take too much divergence from canon to keep him alive, simply have him decide to concede to the Tarnished instead of choosing to keep going until he dies; he’d have to realize that he cannot win, but if he stays alive he can figure out some way to minimize the damage the Tarnished poses to the Golden Order/Leyndell, especially since they aren’t Elden Lord yet, so he’s got time to plan. It could be believable since while Morgott is prideful as hell, he’s also fully devoted to his role as Lord of Leyndell; yes it’s more likely he’d die protecting the Erdtree, as happens in canon, but posing a divergence from canon with his concession, depending mostly on the type of Tarnished he’s dealing with, wouldn’t be too out of character so long as you frame it as a long play on his part, which we know he’s capable of given his history as Veiled Monarch for the past few thousand years or so.

So given this kind of foundation, there’s no way in hell that there would be any sort of progress until after the Tarnished becomes Elden Lord. Morgott’s deal is very much ‘the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don’t’. He’s not stupid; he knows he suffers under the Golden Order, he knows other Omen suffer under the Golden Order, he knows the world had gone to shit. Yet still, this is all he has. He’s given himself to the Golden Order because it’s all he has. He holds a hope that yes, one day the Golden Order will fix everything, that it will hold true and restore sanity to The Lands Between. It is the only thing he has left to give his love to, and by every god above that’s what he’s going to do. And like I don’t 100% subscribe to the notion that the dude is just a self-loathing sad sack. Yes, he holds a disdain for his Omen heritage and views himself as lesser in that regard, but at the same time he deliberately escaped the Shunning Grounds during the Shattering and took the throne of Leyndell for himself. He explicitly refers to himself as ‘Last of All Kings’ during the cutscene for his boss battle. He’s an efficient warmonger and one of the orchestrators of one of the battle on Mount Gelmir, which is considered one of the most appalling battles in the entirety of the Shattering. Despite all his hang ups about being an Omen, he is prideful to a fault.

So then when it comes to the Tarnished, he doesn’t know what they are going to do. (Minor point of contention that I have is when people refer to Morgott as ‘racist’ because of his disdain for the Tarnished. First off, Tarnished aren’t a race, being Tarnished is an affiliation; warriors of Godfrey that were banished with him after they lost Grace in The Long March (pretty sure that’s what it was called) and their descendants. If you’re gonna call Morgott racist then criticize his beliefs about the Golden Order and how they treat lesser races, but not because he hates the player character. Stupid thing to bitch about but I digress) Morgott hates the Tarnished because he knows what they represent. He knows that means that they have been called to repair the Elden Ring and become the new reigning Elden Lord, which is an idea that terrifies Morgott. And honestly given some of the endings you can achieve, he’s right to be terrified. This is something that threatens the state of the Golden Order and the Lands Between as a whole, much less Morgott’s title as Lord of Leyndell. He stands to lose everything he’s desperately fought for, and watch the world fall apart before his very eyes. There would be no relationship between the Tarnished and Morgott unless they could prove to him that they aren’t going to essentially ruin everything. Given that they are able to achieve this, it would likely be slow going to improve their standing; hesitant allies evolving to a sort of comfortable ‘coworker’ (I suppose? There’s probably a better word for it but that’s all I’ve got at the moment) standing given that the Tarnished proves themselves competent in manners of state, or if they are willing to learn (preferably from Morgott since then he’d be more assured that they’re doing things the ‘right’ way). Of course Morgott would be very unlikely to initiate anything on his end. As it stands, once he’s sure the Tarnished won’t bring about the destruction of the Lands Between, he’d probably prefer to be left alone to keep serving as Lord of Leyndell. It’s not that he necessarily wants to be alone, it’s just more comfortable for him; it’s what he’s used to. But given that he’s almost certainly lonely, and if they are tolerable to be around, it would take less effort than one would think to get him to warm up to them.

If it did ever progress to something romantic however, the Tarnished would need to initiate. Firstly, it’s unlikely Morgott would recognize any romantic feelings he may harbor as being such; he’d likely take it as himself beginning to recognize the Tarnished as Elden Lord, which is a status akin to divinity, since for Morgott love and worship are intrinsically linked in his mind. Secondly, even if he did recognize himself as falling in love, he would not act on it unless he knew his affections were explicitly wanted. And even then it would take convincing. Just because he feels he deserves his position as Lord of Leyndell, doesn’t mean he feels like he would deserve to consort with the Elden Lord. He *is* still an Omen. He knows that is something that is undesirable, something that he himself considers undesirable. It would take a metric ton of coaxing and reassurances that yes, the Tarnished does in fact want him romantically.

And then it would very quickly get unhealthy.

As I said before, Morgott believes love and worship to be intrinsically linked to one another; his parents are gods and the only thing he has ever loved has been the religious system that oppressed him for thousands of years. He had likely never had any sort of healthy attachments modeled for him, and thus would not know how to express his newfound love for the Tarnished in a healthy manner. Like it wouldn’t get to ridiculous levels like ‘Alpha Male’ Morgott, but he would be incredibly jealous and possessive. This is his Love, his very God. He dedicates his very fucking soul to them and only them, and he’s constantly terrified of losing their favor just as he never held the favor of Grace. Because the Tarnished is a God he knows that other people worship and covet them as well. Depending on the Tarnished’s stance on the Golden Order it’s very likely he would at this point finally abandon it, especially if it’s been abolished by the Tarnished. How foolish of him to worship false idols that would never return his love! He’s finally found true divinity! Of course be still holds lingering shame about his blood considering that it takes more than a little while to undo thousands of years of hearing that you are a mistake and a blight on the world. But in this instance his shame would only push him to keep his hold tight on the Tarnished. He knows that he is Unworthy, and yet he still has the love of his God anyways, and there isn’t a single damn person that can take this away from him. It’s very likely he would also become paranoid to excessive levels that the Tarnished will find someone better. That there are worthier suitors than him, that they will decide that they no longer want him and have realized that they deserve better. Depending on if the Tarnished is able to catch this, it’s very likely that Morgott would spiral into something uncontrollable and that the relationship would become something toxic. Taking a more optimistic path, it would take a lot of honest discussion with Morgott before the relationship settles into something healthy, at least on Morgott’s side. He’d eventually calm the hell down and for the most part quell his more negative emotions.

[you-are-my-neverland]

“You know, everyone else thinks you’ve lost your mind because of grief, But I know you better than that, and I know that whatever’s going on with you is more than whatever happened to your dad. The person in front of me, that’s not you. And I don’t know where the fuck she is, but I hope the real Naying Yue wakes up soon.”

NAYING YUE'S life has been on a downward spiral ever since her father disappeared three years ago. Expelled from university and alone after violently stabbing her friend in the eye, she believes her twenty first birthday is as good as any day to die, only for her suicide to be interrupted by an attack by monstrous beings. Saved by strangers who call themselves Outsiders, she is told her life as she knows it is a lie: Her father did not save her life as a child, but instead kidnapped her from the powerful Yue family. Thrown headfirst into the dangerous World of Outsiders, where humans endowed with a magical current are hunted ruthlessly by the eldritch beings known as the seraph and the power plays between factions shed just as much blood, Naying finds herself pulled by opposite powers and desires. Forced to play in games she does not fully understand and plagued by unexplained blackouts and boughts of violence, Naying must fight herself and the world to stay alive. But all she really wants is to find her father.

GODHOOD is the conceptual title for a prospective trilogy that follows Naying Yue as she reclaims her destiny. Set in a universe where magic runs parallel to the ordinary world in the form of a current. Those that possess the current are called Outsiders, endowed with extraordinary abilities and able to perceive the truth of the world, responsible for maintaining equilibrium. As Naying embraces the changes within herself, a young monk searches for an answer that has haunted him his whole life, and a skater must confront a part of herself she has tried to turn away from. A boy sits catatonic in a wheelchair in the garden, and a pair of twins are forced to chose between the past and the future. Their stories intertwine with one another's while overlapping with that of various other characters across the Godhood Universe.

Status. Drafting book one

Genre. Urban fantasy with wuxia and mythic elements

Themes & Tropes. destiny, the problem of free will, humanity, the trolley problem, the abuse and cycle of power (how we play into and uphold the systems that hurt and oppress us), individual identity & internal conflict, ambition & power, who we choose as a family, parent/child relationships (specifically father/daughter), balance

Tag: wip: godhood

More information available on the ppt intro of this wip!! I'm always open to asks about specific characters and worldbuilding, though I don't know when I'll be making an actual post about it. I mostly post small snippets here and there :)

Taglist (currently tagging those who expressed interest before, please reach out to be added or removed)

@lena-rambles @ink-flavored @vacantgodling @dirtcatty

Extra excerpt beneath cut!

“You don’t believe I’m her, do you?” she asked softly. “Naying Yue. The dead one.” “Dead, or missing?” Lien murmured in response. “Or found?” He stepped down into her space, so they were toe to toe, too crushingly close to stand on her own. She fought against stepping back, holding herself taut to prevent her body from swaying backwards without her control.  “Your bet,” she said, staring up at him. His eyes were dark. She could see a sliver of the moon in them at this distance. The last, and only, guy she had been this physically close to was Frey. “I bet you’re going to ruin something,” Lien said in a low voice. “Real or not.” Naying swallowed, then let herself smile. “How much are you willing to bet on that?” “Why?” Lien asked, boredom sweeping over his features. He took a step back. “Planning on providing a payout?” “I doubt it would be that hard,” Naying replied, following his step. “I don’t play nice.” Lien shook his head with a rueful grin. “I can see that much.” He paused. “So what’s your bet, then?” “My bet?” Naying echoed curiously. “Real, or fake?”  “Well,” Naying said. “It’s probably the same as yours, isn’t it? I’m a fake who is pretending to be the real thing, or I’m the real deal still putting on a facade. Either way, I’m going to fuck things up, aren’t I?” “There’s no odds if they’re in both of our favor,” Lien replied.

[micechicken]

Some rambling on this scene.

A lot of things I've seen about this is just talking about how this is D's full switch into violence. And while that is true I think it's just everything at once.

I should also mention that this is seen as Orion betraying D, by disallowing him from killing Sentinel. He feels betrayed his friend isn't on his side even though he at every point has shown he doesn't want to kill Sentinel. So while I can see it this way, I think this is a lesser point for him.

Immediately after he catching him he asks "Why did you do that?" Just blaming Orion for stepping in the way and getting hurt. He can't explain it to himself at all. Before this moment he justifies violence. When anyone above his rank beats down on him or his friends he justifies it by saying "he deserved that" or "he'd had it coming". It's a (bad) coping mechanism because justifying it as deserved is easier to him than to face the reality of it.

When he realizes Sentinel's betrayal he justifies his desire to harm him with the fact that "everything was taken from him", which he continues to use to feel his desire is the correct course.

When fighting Starscream he builds that desire to harm others and even thinks of it as okay, even harming the others when fighting them away to get to Sentinel. But here. He didn't want to harm Orion. He couldn't say that Orion deserved it. Cause it was his best friend, and despite butting heads at this point, he still wanted to stay with him.

Even if he could do something in this moment, like pulling him back up, he choses to let him fall. Which I think is multiple things.

It could be a mercy, for if he fell hard it would kill him imminently, but we see him slowly die as he falls, so that's not even true. And either way he still ends up being responsible for his death.

It could just be him killing him for the sake of killing, allowing himself to fall into this violent form.

I most think that he wanted to let him die, so he couldn't see him fall further into this violent version of himself. Obviously, given he chose to step in the way, he was never going to be okay with him going down this path. The plead of "No." to him to choose another path as a final request (his final words even). So if he could choose to have Orion only know this end, to die not seeing what he further choose to do, then he'll have that. He doesn't want to have his bestfriend see him fall more and more mad. Which is how I view the "I'm done saving you". To leave off this end with a full cut, no regrets or remorse. No remembering the good. Just end it in that moment. A hope that Orion will only view him in that way (not that it works).

I don't think D/Megatron believes that Orion will come back. Even if he hoped he could. To him that was truly the end of Orion's life once he turns around.

Which leads me too:

He cries at the end of his fight with Optimus.

Aside from getting his shit rocked by his best friend. He failed to kill him again. Once again he chooses to try and end him instead of any other route. This both plays into him fully descending into violence and his desire to prevent Optimus from seeing this fall.

He also sees the one he thought was truly dead, alive again. With the way he reacts to his exile, I also feel he hoped that in this new form, his friend would forgive him. The dimming of his eyes is both him realizing the gravity of the situation but also the fact he may never be forgiven.

Side note: he's absolutely hiding his feelings here by keeping that guard up.

And Optimus' line about crossing a line, I absolutely feel is him also trying to cut off the way he feels (in relation to the "I'm done saving you")

His friend had also become the thing he claims to hate: all Primes. The one he had full faith in is now something he hates.

And while Orion had often dragged him into crazy and dangerous situations, he ultimately wanted to lift his friend up. Unfortunately it only leads to his decent.

[thebruno65]

Danganronpa 2: DLC. How it could potentially go

A while ago, i made a post on a fake dr2 DLC with Ryota and Sato and didnt think much of it. But ive been recently coming back to it. So yeah, dr2 but sato replaces hajime and ryota replaces chiaki, heres how i would make it go, btw, this ISNT a what if, its how i eould see it.

Chapter 1:

the prologue + most of chapter 1 daily life can go the same. The moment it starts to change the timeline is when they were about to do their usual stick-thingy draw, when Sato just reluctantly chooses to do the work instead, seeing as she thought that draw game was kinda stupid.

This kinda screwed Nagitos plan, so he thought about having 2 ppl clean, the same thing happens and Nagito is chosen. When they're cleaning, he changes his target over to Sato, doing the same he did to canon Teru, only this time she isnt willing to do it. Teru eventually stumbles into the scene and sato tells him about Nagito, foiling his plan.

In the end Nagito would have to fully change his plan to something else, deciding to have Akane as the blackened as he somehow finds out about her siblings at home. Akane kills him and then gets executed.

Chapter 2

The motive this time is way more interesting, as now the killer herself is here alive and well. So instead of messaging Mahiru, he does to Sato, she eventually plays and finds out about the game, but unlike Mahiru, she doesnt go. So it eventually retargets back to Mahiru.

The reason as to why Fuyu kills her instwad of peko usually could target back on the fact that his og target didnt show up, making him even angrier and peko just doesnt have time to interfeer.

In the trial, peko would obviously try and divert the trial to think it was her, but eventually the truth is revealed and fuyu is bye-gone

Chapter 3

The party can now be directed to Peko as she tried to interfeer in fuyus execition this time and failed. Nekomaru would still turn into a robot not because of akane, but because of Sato herself, you can have her truly get sick and mad that Mahiru died and all that so she confronts monokuma. Only to get slashed in the arm, aka the same place were she got slashed before.

The ones with the despair disease could be:

Akane -> Sato

Ibuki -> Ibuki

Nagito -> Gundham (?)

And the people taking care of them would be:

Mikan

Peko

Impostor

So the rest would be staying at the motel, those being:

Ryota

Hiyoko

Sonia

Kazuichi

Teruteru

Hiyoko one night would sneak in to sato's room, why? So she could tie her kimono. After Mahiru's death, they were both severly affected by it, also sato was the other person mahiru trusted so thats why she came to her and not someone else.

Dont know how the murder would occur, just know that those 3 die.

Chapter 4

Nekomaru finally comes back in his robot form much to everyones shock. When the 4th island opens up, they do the stupid rollecoaster and get the book of the fiarst killing game. Since Byakuya is surpisingly there, they question the supposed byakuya who responds about not knowing anything or remebering.

When they get in the strawberry hourse, the trios are as follow:

Sato - Nekomaru - Hiyoko

Ryota - Mikan - Impostor

Peko - Gundham - Teruteru

Sato would apologize to nekomaru about what happened to him, and in true nekomaru fashion he forgives her and doesnt hold her accountable, but he does wish she could apologize to Peko instead of him. She tries to argue back by reminding him what they did to Mahiru, but he claps back with reminding her that she killed their sister. Sato contemplates and decides to think about it.

When it comes to choosing the straw and grape rooms, the most logical solution would be to have the 5 males on the grape side and the 4 females on the strawberry house, but since Sato isnt exactly ready to be near peko yet, her and Ryota swap.

Dont know how this murder plan would go, but i still want to include the whole split group, woth Sato in grape and Mikan on straw. But this time, satos group is barely able to get anything done as their also the ones locked out of the crime scene, so well have to play as mikan for most of the time.

So it would also be Mikan that enters the final death room, now it would be changed sp ot doesnt require bs luck, mikan finds the book and her personality does a 180, she becoemes cold blunt and rude to everyone. She tells her sato abt the reserve course and yada-yada.

Trial time, and impostor is guilty. He has a similar motive to gundham in canon, only this time he intended to truly have everyone survive over him, and the trial is to try and convince everyone is him. Especially Ryota, who him and imppstor grew very fond of.

In the end, he reveals he is an impostor and gives a motivatory speech to everyone, after that, Sato finally gains the courage to forgive and apologize herself to peko. And while they both arent necesarily on the best of terms, she does still forgive her.

Chapter 5

Mikan does a nagito, idk how but she does. And Ryota is îthe traitor. He is still part of the Future Foundation and was put on the virtual world as a method to overlook the situation. Yeah not much else here.

Chapter 6

Kinda just the same as canon tbh, wouldnt change much.

And that's how i feel like a Dr2: DLC could go! If you have any questions or any other ideas/different ways it could go, leave it in the comments.

[st0r-fruit]

I've never really talked about Nigel/Roundabout and his relationships with his niece and nephew (in my au)

Okay so I've publicly stated that Troll (whose real name I made is David) is Roundabout's nephew, but I actually never told you guys that I made Xifeng from episode 1 S4 as his niece. So basically, since in this au Julia is Nigel's bio daughter, Julia and Xifeng's mom are sister which makes them blood-related cousins. And in this au I made Nigel having a twin sister (him being the older one), which is Troll's mom.

here's some headcanons I have for their relationship 🫵

I can't choose between two of these dynamics, so I'm gonna list both of it

One one hand, Roundabout and Troll are very close, and bonds with technology (oftentimes it was Troll explaining how gadgets and applications works to Roundabout), and Troll would infodump and explain pop culture to his uncle, who cannot keep with the ever revolving culture.

Roundabout is like...his sugar uncle. Gets dragged into comic conventions. Roundabout pretends to hate it but he's glad that he gets to bond with his nephew, even if he doesn't understand it fully.

Sometimes questions his nephew's antics, specially his obsession with k-pop bands ("Uncle look, I got enhypen's newest album!! Cost an arm and a leg!" "Ah--, I, uh, happy to hear that, David.") but doesn't undermines it because he can see the particular factor of interest ("....I know what you are, David.")

Second option; Even though Troll and Roundabout works closely in VILE, they are quite distant from each other, and if they meet in real life, often times they would argue because of grief. (Troll's mom died in a car crash accident and Roundabout was still mad that he projected his anger and his vision of his sister to Troll, which often breaks into arguenents.)

Not sure if I should made the mom die since there's a canonically dead mom (Xifeng's) so I'm wondering if I should keep Troll's mom dead or alive. ("You could've been there protecting your mother but instead you choose to stay and slouch." "I DIDN'T KNOW AN ACCIDENT WAS GONNA HAPPEN, DON'T YOU PIN THIS BLAME ON ME!")

But between Roundabout and Xifeng's relationship is pretty consistent. He and her takes great interest in peking opera, Xifeng infodumping her uncle and inviting him to a peking opra (even one of hers with her father like in the episode).

Both loves fashion, goes on a shopping spree together a lot. Xifeng introducing unspoken high quality (most often Chinese) brands to her uncle, and Roundabout was ESTATIC. New shopping department and brand unlocked 🔓

Roundabout was actually the first person Xifeng came out to as lesbian before her dad because she knew he was Bi therefore she felt more safe telling him, and also because when she blasts queer music (specifically Chapell Roan), Roundabout doesn't judge and just enjoys (but he had a hunch.) (*Casual playing in the car* "....I see....")

Roundabout is ALSO sort of like her sugar uncle, even though she doesn't need it, he likes spoiling his niece and nephew.

When Troll and Xifeng are together, oh boy Roundabout needs to stack up on his Panadol stash because he can't comprehend how they could fight so often yet gets along very well????

Roundabout is very glad that Troll and Xifeng gets along very well with Julia, even if she has to break petty conflicts between Troll and Xifeng.

Nevertheless, Roundabout loves his niece and nephew no matter what, and they love him too.

[toxintouch]

so I found your post about what if the cult that raised Unnamed MC was one of Vere's old cults and I just had a few thoughts. a Deicide Vere flavored thoughts.

(also I apologize in advance because this was a lot longer than I planned on it being lmao)

what if MC was meant to eventually be sacrificed? like, in an attempt to bring Vere back or something along those lines. and the MC knew they were going to be sacrificed; it probably played a decent factor in why they ran.

so how would MC react to finding out that Vere was the very deity that they grew up worshipping, had grown up knowing that they would eventually be sacrificed to him in a vain attempt to bring him back?

maybe the Devout Follower part of them hadn't been snuffed out by the time they met Vere. maybe all the old habits they tried to leave behind started to come back after being face-to-face with their god. maybe, in a scenario where something, or someone, would have to be sacrificed in order to remove the collar, they would decide to be almost exactly what the cult raised them to be: a sacrifice, but to free him instead of bringing him back?

or, alternatively, the Devout Follower part of them had been completely snuffed out by the time they met Vere. how would they react to finding out that, after all that running, they somehow managed to end up within arms reach of the very thing they had been running from? what if they choose to run again because of it, just up and leaving Eridia, leaving Vere still chained to the Senobium?

and of course: how would Vere react? MC being an ex-follower of his is one thing, but them being an ex-follower and an eventual sacrifice? someone who once fervently worshipped him and was, at least at some point in their life, fully willing to lay down their life for him with no guarantee it would even lead to anything?

(or how would he react to the "MC just fucking leaves" scenario specifically? sure, Normal/Canon Vere would be going through it, especially if him and MC were close, but Deicide Vere? yeah I think that would be his breaking point)

I don't mind the length at all!! I'm the last person who would ever complain, many ppl will attest to my long DMs, etc. In fact, thank you for taking the time to write out your ask and tysm taking an interest in my beloved Deicide Flavored Vere! ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ Sorry it took all day to respond, I wanted to be able to set aside proper time to read your message and consider! :3 You're picking up what I was thinking abt for sure with your sacrifice train of thought! Though I'll admit I was thinking more of MC being a less literal sacrifice - chosen as the conduit or the one who is supposed to find Vere and bring him back to his people now that he has disappeared.

Oh, but the literal sacrifice angle is juicy. And less convoluted/more clear than how I was trying to make the pieces fit, when I made that post? I let myself get stuck on the thought that I wanted MC to feel...fashioned for Vere, but I was thinking, perhaps, too logically & not cult-y enough, lol.

✦ Perhaps MC thought - when they were a child? - that they would be alive to meet Vere when he came back, but once they became older they realized that: no, they were to be a sacrifice to bring him back. They had to be ready to die for him. And they are only acting as Oracle in stead of their deity until they become strong enough to divine his return, which they (via the cult's teachings) believe will require them to sacrifice themself to him, to die...

But once they realize that their curse is a curse and not a god-given ability that's been granted to them... What else isn't true?

✦ Or perhaps they realize that to be a sacrifice is to die for their god at the same time they realize the truth about their hands, like you suggested, and they knew that they had to flee for the sake of their life and for the sake of finding freedom. They finally saw the gilded cage they had been kept in.

I definitely want to further explore the branching thoughts & paths of Sacrifice!Unnamed grappling with their Devotion vs Apostasy, but I don't want to keep you waiting too long for an answer so I will just resolve to make relevant posts as I consider more/write more! Until then:

✦ I think, even if they want to say that they have left all of their devotion to their god behind...old habits die hard. Things slip through the cracks. No matter how tightly you think you've closed the door, a sliver of a shadow can still find its way into the room where you thought you were safe and alone.

✦ In this MC's mind, they have always been Vere's.

✦ And Vere... [incoming POV shift to match the original Deicide fic]

His own autonomy is important to him, yes, but he's a hypocrite at heart. He's a glutton. He craves power. And he craves you.

He didn't put the collar on his own neck.

But you did.

You belong to him; you were made for him.

You devoted yourself to him, chained yourself willingly and he's not about to allow you to take all the oaths and prayers and the sweet, secret whispers you've given to him back.

(Oh, but he’d have been a kind god to you. Eventually. In that other time, that fictional reality where life is fair. You can earn his kindness, but never his mercy. It isn't in him to be merciful.)

You can't take your devotion back. He has a taste for it now. The only way he's letting it die is if he devours it whole.

And how had he not recognized the taste of himself already on you? How had he failed to notice, so distracted by your enticing promise, that he'd already laid claim? He's been woven into your life from the very start. He didn't even have to go to your town to demand you. You came to him.

(He'll reward them, still, the dregs of his followers – a quick death when he kills them for leaving their hand prints all over what they knew was his, for the suffering they inflicted on you that was his to mete out – suffering that was his to bless you will, as punishment or otherwise.)

And the depth of your devotion? That presses into him, something tender and cutting, unfamiliar or at least long forgotten. He'll reward you once he's satisfied with your repentance. Once you've renewed your faith in all the ways he sees fit.

(How shall be react to your willingness to die for him? It's been so long since he's had something to lose...)

✦ Deicide!Vere is such a mess of feelings. I think he would have a lot of trouble deciding what to do about Sacrifice!MC being willing (currently or previously) to die for him.

✦ The complexity of the matter is that: Were it anyone else, he wouldn't hesitate. He'd be pleased to throw them into harm's way if it meant being free. But Deicide!Vere has been lonely, searching for something - someone - like him for so long. I think he sees the potential of Sacrifice!MC as the one person outside of himself that he could really treasure. (AKA love) They're the "thing" he wanted most, before he lost his freedom. Being confronted with a situation where he may have to sacrifice one of his greatest desires for the other? Even he's not sure what he would do, if the situation arose as such. So he pushes that thought and that feeling away. My vision of Vere is that, though he is somewhat scheming, he is also impulsive and driven by hedonism. For regular Vere, I'm sure he pushes it away until it has to be an impulse decision. For Deicide Vere? This is the shittiest, no-win scenario. Low luck stat really comin' thru.

✦ Re: MC just fucking leaves scenario: I think you're right that something about that breaks him. The rejection. The idea that they've found him unworthy, not the other way around. But most of all: the abandonment. That they would leave him to suffer, presumably forever.

He's their god, yet it's them who's sentenced him to hell.

✦ Another thought I often consider: MC succeeds in removing his collar and even manages to survive doing it. But they don't chose to stay with him. He's been mistrusting of them, too cold and harsh and unwilling to see them as an equal (or at least: unwilling to admit that he does). And so, they lay the collar at his feet and leave. One last supplication, the final prayer from their lips being: "Goodbye, Vere." And the door is firmly shut, this time. He's free but he's back where he started. Searching. Alone. (He knows they're out there somewhere, but they've surpassed him in order to free him. If he hides in the shadow, they hide - they live in the places that match their golden veins, and he can't find them there.)

✦ He thought he could find them anywhere. But he's lost their scent....

I know my reply was a little bit messy, but hopefully I've answered in a way that was fun to read! and maybe even scratched some of the Deicide!Vere itch for anyone who, like me, is constantly infected. Ty again for joining me in my little brainrot corner!

p.s. lmk if i didn't answer/can answer anything more specific that u were hoping for an answer to, it's been kinda a week for my brain!

[adhdprincess]

AU where Abby doesn't just find Joel by luck.

Mel and Owen would infiltrate Jackson by asking for medical help due to her pregnancy.

Then Mel would realize she wants her kid to grow up in Jackson and not the WLF Stadium, but she thinks it's impossible because Owen is still gung ho about killing Joel.

Mel still thinks Joel should die, but she doesn't want to leave Jackson, so she tries to be really helpful in the community, so she puts her medical skills to use and the people in Jackson begin to trust her

Owen gets a message out to Abby and the group about Joel's patrol location, since Owen would get caught if he kills Joel himself, and Abby has dibs

One day, the town is abuzz with news that a patroller was attacked.

When Mel and Owen realize it's Joel being carried back, all bloodied and on the edge of death, Owen tells her that they need to leave and find their friends who could be hurt or dead since they failed their mission

Mel tries to convince him that they should raise their baby in Jackson, and they get into a fight

Then Maria and Tommy ask her to help save Joel's life since Joel needs surgery for bullet wounds in the leg and stomach

Mel decides to stay whether Owen likes it or not and says she'll let Joel succumb to his wounds(while pretending to do the surgery correctly)

Owen peaces out to go find Abby (his true love)

Mel starts the surgery and Maria comes in asking why no one can find Owen. They're suspicious that Mel and Owen might have been involved

Then Maria says if he dies, even if it's not Mel's fault, she'll get escorted out of Jackson.

So then Mel saves Joel in a tough surgery and the town lets her stay under heavy supervision to treat Joel for the next few weeks

A few weeks in, Joel talks to Mel during her checkups and Mel is uncomfy because Joel is the villan from her perspective

She starts to regret staying because now she has no idea where Owen is and the town is waiting for any excuse to kick her out

No one in town will talk to her except Joel during the checkups, so she talks a bit about her life when he asks. Joel tells her a bit about his.

Then Joel asks "Who are they?" Mel asks "Who?" and Joel says "The people who attacked." Mel tries to play dumb, but Joel sees through it

Mel believes she's getting kicked out of Jackson anyway and gives Joel a piece of her mind about the lives he took at the hospital. How he killed her mentor, Abby's father, and destroyed families in his murder spree. She starts crying

Joel looks pained, but is silent until she asks "Do these people know what you did? Does your daughter know?"

Joel tells her why he did what he did and says she'd so the same for her baby. Mel says he's wrong. Then Joel says he can help her.

At a town hall, Mel is given a chance to tell her side, but instead of admitting she knows Abby and them, she says she just wants a peaceful life like anybody else and that she's afraid to be out there on her own.

Joel walks up with a cane(all dramatically slow) and vouches for Mel, saying she just wants a safe place to raise her kid and that he wouldn't be alive without her.

They put it to a vote and most people vote not to send a single pregnant woman out to what would likely be her death

The town decides to keep her under supervision and let her stay. She continues to work as a doctor in the town and slowly gains their trust again.

She keeps Joel's secret and she keeps her distance from Joel

Act 3: Abby and Owen would come back to "rescue" Mel (and to try to kill Joel again) by starting a big fire at the building that converts the electricity from the dam.

Half the town tries to put the fire out and the distraction is enough for Owen to find Mel. He tells her that Abby is looking for Joel(fully healed now) at the dam

Mel decides to choose her baby over Abby's plans and, when Owen tries to stop her she screams that he's one of the men that attacked Joel. People detain him. Then Mel spreads word that people are looking for Joel again at the dam

Abby gets shot and dies and Joel lives

Mel spends the next day in questioning since they think she was in on the plan to start the fire. They see that she betrayed her friends though, so they still let her stay in Jackson.

Joel comes to her the next day saying he's indebted to her because she saved his life twice

Owen stays in the jail that used to be a bank in the before times

Mel has her baby a month later and she continues to save lives as a doctor in Jackson

A nicer AU

[stellocchia]

Idea for a protégé AU I'm thinking of writing something for:

Instead of staying at Techno's, after Tommy is found around his house and they had their argument where Techno told him he couldn't get his discs back without Techno's help Tommy leaves. It just sounded way too similar to something Dream would say and Tommy was still dealing with some serious wounds and the effects of hypothermia and he wasn't lucid enough to think anything aside from the fact that he had to get away from Dream somehow.

Venturing in the snow in his state though wasn't the smartest thing. If staying in Techno's basement at least kept the wind at bay and gave him a place to dry up the same could not be said about the outside. Tommy dies is what I'm getting at here.

The message *Tommy died of hypothermia* appears in chat and most people can't believe it.

Techno's the one to retrieve his body and belongings being the one that knew which direction he went in. There's no funeral, but Tommy does get 2 graves, one near the Arctic and one in L'Manburg. The one in the Arctic is the one with the body since Techno is firm on the fact that the others don't deserve anything after exiling him and leaving him to die (he ignores the guilt he feels for letting him walk away himself, reasoning that he couldn't have done anything more anyway).

Here's where things start, because of course Dream isn't just letting Tommy go like this. He's absolutely pissed that something other than him took Tommy's life, so he is determined to bring him back and ensuring that nothing like that will happen again. So he digs up the body and brings it with him to the attachment vault. He builds an actual base there behind a few layers of blackstone where he's fully intending on keeping Tommy forever, since it suddenly feels like the prison is not private enough. Sam has some level of control there and Dream never intends to relent any of that ever again.

After quite a few days of working Dream revives Tommy. Dream is ecstatic about the revival working on humans and he even tells Tommy that they're gonna become immortals together. Tommy is just as disoriented and scared as you'd expect. He tries to refuse, but Dream makes it clear that the decision is not up to him since "leaving him some freedom clearly didn't work out well for him before" and Tommy is inclined to agree with that one.

That said, Tommy is still dealing with all the health related problems he had before dying and Dream isn't about to have a repeat of his last death, so he makes sure to get him to eat and gives him one of his green hoodies for warmth. That's also why he starts training Tommy: he wanted to build some of his strength back. It was nothing more than that at first, just keeping him healthy because of his desire for control. Turns out Tommy has quite a lot of potential when someone takes the time to actually teach him and Dream is a little short on allies at the moment.

It was a vague idea at first, nothing that Dream actually intended to go through with. He liked the idea of flaunting his control over Tommy and he knew that Tommy by now was dependent enough on him to not even think about switching sides (after all Dream was the reason why Tommy was alive again, he was the reason why he was getting a bit of pep in his steps back, the reason why he had a safe place to sleep again, the reason he lost all of that in the first place).

And then the Green Festival comes along and Dream makes a miscalculation and almost loses his first life. It really downs on him how alone he truly is. He does have allies, but no one that is actually loyal to him... well... almost no one.

Tommy's feelings in all of this are complicated. He feels grateful to Dream for not being dead anymore, but he also hates what revival has done to him because it often feels like his body isn't his anymore. Everything feels weird and wrong and too much all the time. He's also terrified of Dream, but at the same time he feels safe with him. It's confusing and he tries not to think too much about it. Especially because he gets angry at himself more than anything for being so scared of his friend, he never hurt him after all, did he?

His thoughts regarding everyone else aren't any easier. He still dislikes Techno and he resents everyone else for leaving him, but not as much as he hates himself for making them leave. He misses them, but Dream says he shouldn't, that they don't want him anyway, that they didn't even mourn him and it just makes his head go all staticky to think about, so he doesn't.

A few headcanons for this AU under the cut

Tommy's mask is actually one of Dream's because the green man actually wants to make it cristal clear who he belongs to and the ugly green hoodie wasn't enough for that apparently

The name Tommy chooses for himself when others are around is Chirp in reference to the exile disc, because it just feels really fitting to me and I've never seen anyone use it

Dream still calls him Tommy any time the two are alone though, because he totally revels in being the only one with the knowledge of his true identity

Techno and Phil both fully blame L'Manburg for Tommy's death and that's actually one of the reasons they have to help Dream destroy it (even though neither of them were actually close with him, they just think his death is one more proof of the government's corruption)

The New L'Manburg's cabinet actually intended to have a funeral for Tommy but they decided that getting justice for him would be better. Justice was killing Dream because they actually blame him for Tommy's death (they aren't wrong)

Tubbo also blames himself for his friend's death though, and hasn't been able to look at his broken compass since

When Dream finds out that Tommy can sew he makes him stitch a green smiley face on the hoodie Tommy wears and the chirp disc on his, because this man really decided that the mask an hoodie weren't enough. He really is THAT excessive in this AU

Henry has actually been revived and he's kept in the vault. Dream uses him as a sort of "reward/punishment" thing for Tommy. He lets Tommy cuddle or play with him when Tommy's obedient enough and kills him in front of him when he isn't

Phantommy did actually exist in this AU, but he appeared in the vault with Dream and spent his whole existence trembling terrified out of his mind. Tommy doesn't really remember anything from him afterwards. After all, the sense of dread any time he saw Dream had been there since long before the ghost ever appeared

Dream kinda dropped a lot of the physical abuse after the revival in this AU, not because he regrets anything, but mostly because he's well aware of Tommy's mortality now and he isn't willing to risk the next death to be a permanent one. Everything else got much worse though. Tommy's not the only one being dependent on the other after all and that makes a lot of the green man actions more extreme

Dream also wants the "your Tommy" compass (is anyone surprised at this point?) So he's trying to find out where Tubbo keeps it. That's the thing he wants to obtain before blowing L'Manburg to bedrock in this AU instead of the disc (he doesn't need the disc anymore anyway)

[weirdloverwilde]

i think how torchwood actually should have gone is well. following the doctor who model, people do have to leave, and it's darker so they should die (already so established that they cant just choose to leave martha-style).

and it feels like gwen, being the audience substitute should not die? but that is a replaceable role. im alright with s1-2 gwen but s3 and esp s4 is where her character really hits for me. i wouldnt want to lose that. she gets so hardened to the world (while still managing to keep some of her heart. but yeah torchwood does wreck it slightly. it's torchwood). she could also take on a jack-like role (jack plays the doctor role in torchwood - gwen taking it on would be akin to the doctor's regeneration)

realistically, i think ianto should have died instead of owen. he dies very soon after anyway. and owen's literally just had a whole arc of accepting his undead state and how he cant die only to immediately die. plus the walking corpse thing is fun. so yes ianto and tosh die.

so i think how i would write it (if it had carried on with the s1&2 format) is ianto dies, end of s2. this distresses jack, the way it does in children of earth and he leaves. gwen is left to run torchwood with tosh and owen. she takes on a more jackesque role. they recruit one or two new people, maybe andy, maybe kathy swanson, maybe someone completely new. tosh or owen dies at the end of this series (i'm fine with owen dying here, once there's been more of a chance to play around with the living corpse thing. if tosh dies, by this point her character arc has been more completed, though probably not all the way. both can die, or just one, i don't really mind)

jack returns for s4. he takes back his role, but gwen doesnt want to give it up easily. theres a lot of tension this time round. they recruit one or two more people. if tosh or owen are still alive, they die.

s5 would be the same team. i think miracle day is a good plot, but i would probably simplify it majorly, and have it as a three part series finale. all the current team members die this series, apart from gwen. jack, haunted by his past, and newfound fear of mortality, plus the death of his friends, leaves once again.

then theres a hiatus. several years go by before the next series starts. in it we find a new person, stumbling across torchwood for the first time. through this we realise gwen has kept torchwood going, but has almost completely lost her "heart". she has completely taken on jack's role. the torchwood team is small, two or three people when the new audience surrogate stumbles across them. this starting episode + beginning of s6 would function in a way people could enter this series without having watched any of the previous ones (this is a massive bonus to doctor who imo, abd torchwood should realise this and utilize it)

theres also a episode in this series involving suzie once again. this only serves to fully demonstrate how much gwen has changed, how much she has become jack.

[astrayan]

What’s the Jacob Discourse? I am strangely intrigued…

I think we will both regret talking about the Jacob discourse but k let’s do this

So, if you pay attention on the novels, Jacob never actually *cares* about Bella, she’s a trophy to him, an object like his motorcycle. We know how he thinks since we had that POV of him in Breaking Dawn (partially caused by Renesmee but I digress).

He romanticized the girl who was his friend every summer growing up and had a Manic Pixie crush on her. Bella fits the category, she’s shy, introspective, likes to read, all a guy could want in a Manic Pixie fantasy. Also, I have to note that Bella fully blocked all their child interactions in her mind because they were traumatic for her and initially she didn’t even know who he was, she had to be reminded by Charlie. And Bella is not just “book girl” or “shy girl”, she’s a human being. Meanwhile Jacob fails to humanize her, instead putting her in this weird trophy-wife(girlfriend?) pedestal.

He successfully gaslights her over and over. Before the Eclipse battle against Victoria, he managed to gaslight and trick Bella into kissing him, going all “🥺🥺 well guess I’ll die in this battle 🥺 because u don’t love me 🥺🥺 u could kiss me to reassure me 🥺” and our girl, DESPERATE to keep her best friend alive, kissed him trying to give him hope of something happening in the future (also a huge pls don’t die), even though she was playing right into his hand.

After this happens, Edward reads the thoughts of Jacob as he’s running to battle and chuckles. Because the tone of his thoughts are smug. He’s gloating in his thoughts, knowing full well Edward is reading them. It was never about Bella having to choose, it was all about besting Edward, and Edward picked right up on that. That’s the reason he doesn’t get upset with her, he knows she was played.

And don’t even get me started with Renesmee and the imprinting. Bullshit. BULLSHIT!!! Jacob didn’t deserve to be “a part of the family” and the fucking relationships on the family tree got all imbalanced because of him (he takes stacey’s mom to another level, “oh yeah i dated your mother for a while but dw babe jm dating you now” I MEAN WHAT). I get this was Meyer’s try to give all her characters a “happy ending” but this one is seriously fucked up.

Tl;dr jacob did not deserve a happy ending

[solomonish]

Solomon Headcanons

I didn’t like my old headcanons for him and I think I have a slightly better feel for him so I’m posting these bad boys. Maybe at this rate I’ll just post Solomon HCs every month 

Also this turned into more of a “I’m going to talk about Solomon in depth and maybe throw in one headcanon about kissing him” and is no longer “lol what kind of dates do you go on? <3″ so uh. do with that what you will. It’s also SUPER LONG (or feels that way) so make sure you have a hot second to read them

you can find my for real headcanons for him here but I don’t necessarily stand by them anymore? They’re just there for fun now lol

Solomon’s Relationship With Relationships

Solomon has been alive for...a long time, and with that naturally comes a lot of experiences, negative and positive. It’s also natural that it would also have him break out of traditional structures regarding...everything, but especially things regarding relationships and specific other people.

(Not to get sociological or philosophical about society or whatever, but the way we view everything is accented heavily by the end. With exceptions, and this certainly varies from culture to culture, but as a general idea, we view things expecting them to take place over the span of 70-100 years. Certain positions in politics or business or something try to look at things generationally, but how capable of that are we and how far ahead can we truly see?)

(What I mean to say is that immortality naturally shifts the entire context in which you would view things that were expected to be “lifelong.” What once existed to enrich a life is now a tether to a system that doesn’t necessarily suit his existence.)

Psychologically, however.....I don’t think Solomon has tried to (or even can) rewire himself entirely to the point where he doesn’t feel love. He’s already got a fondness for Simeon and Luke (always crying about him calling them “dear friends” in the circus event i don’t know if he says anything in the lessons because i’m only on like 21 LOL) so he’s clearly capable of fondness and affection.

Not that those should equate exactly to romantic feelings (because they shouldn’t), but there’s undeniable similarities between platonic and romantic affection and, for the purposes of speculating about an immortal’s capability to still feel both, I think they can be equated in this regard.

There are a lot of assumptions I’m making about him to make this post, namely the following: that there is still reconciling to be done internally between his immortality and humanity, that Solomon’s composed and confident nature is a bit of a front (only a bit - I’ll explain more later), and, related to these two, that he even cares about humanity and that he still wants to preserve his humanity.

While this might be my perspective as a regular human, I really don’t believe that the desire to be human and fully encompass what that means has left. If anything, I think his intrinsic desire for knowledge and power stems from it, and he’s just suppressed the “mushier” emotional parts of that as a sort of....defense mechanism, if you will.

SO the tl;dr of this is that you know how alloromantic people just like feel in love and they get their romantic crushes and it’s natural and they can’t control it? Solomon gets that! He just isn’t the type to swoon over someone or really make it known.

He also as a person is big on being manipulative shady and in control, so if he were to just be super obvious about having a crush on someone and not being able to do anything about it, that would sort of tarnish his whole image.

So yeah, I think Solomon just has his emotions on a tight leash when they probe to be out of control. Clearly, he doesn’t have every part of him under this sort of watchful eye (whether that’s because he still wants to feel genuine happiness or he knows if he came across as emotionless and calculated people would trust him even less, I haven’t decided), but those that cause trouble stay behind locked doors.

Additionally, I don’t think Solomon is opposed to falling in love. I’d bet he’s had lots of different partners over the years and remembers them fondly (you know, assuming they ended well)

I also think his immortal status makes dating different? I feel like doesn’t really date to find a life partner because. well. (gestures).

That’s not to say that he doesn’t date casually sometimes or something. In the terms of a serious romantic partnership, though, it’s rare that it happens because he knows that it’ll die with them (and stay within him for probably forever, even if/when there comes a day he can no longer remember their name or their face).

Another assumption I’m making that I forgot to mention: I think it’s rare that Solomon’s serious, long-term partners know the true extent of the magic he dabbles in. Maybe he lets them know it’s real magic, or he pretends it’s all show magic and parlor tricks. Sometimes he pretends his pact marks are tattoos, sometimes he tells the truth. If ever these confessions are laughed off, he laughs them off too and creates a cover story.

He doesn’t intend to lie, but it’s very difficult to meet someone and explain........all of THAT. On which date to you mention that you can control 72 demons? Do you send a card explaining how you’ve been alive since Biblical times and you’re not even sure if you birthday is your real birthday anymore, let alone how old you are? And should that card be store bought or homemade?

So while it’s rare for Solomon to have a serious romantic partnership, it’s even more rare for him to be entirely understood or accepted for EVERYTHING that he is because he can’t get into it. Arguably, that hasn’t happened since his “death” in his original timeline.

A crush for Solomon isn’t a hopeless affair, either. Should you choose someone else, he’ll allow himself the disappointment and move on.

With Solomon, romantic love sparks naturally, but genuine true love isn’t some all-powerful, unstoppable force. He falls more in line with the people who believe it’s a choice and a decision, somewhere between “it’s purely a biological impulse we just gave a fancy name” and “it’s the magic that makes life more enjoyable”

With MC

In the case of MC, however, I think he might initially see it as bothersome or a hinderance to whatever his plan is with being down there for the exchange program. Maybe he convinces himself he’s just naturally attracted to you because you’re human like him. Once he comes to terms with his feelings and gets to know MC a bit more, he might even see it as a lost cause seeing as you already have several of the brothers vying for your affections.

For Solomon to act on a crush that he’s already decided is hopeless, it’ll be up to the MC to show that THEY are interested in HIM

He finds no particular pleasure in being someone who is chased after or “playing hard to get,” but he already has a complicated relationship with complicated relationships. He’s gonna need a down payment of affection a sign that there’s anything even there to pursue 

Traditional flirting, while he’ll have his fun with it (and probably enjoy it at least a little - who doesn’t like feeling desirable?), doesn’t really work for him. Lots of people and creatures have used it to try and charm him, plus he has a pact with Asmo, so at this point he really sees it as more casual fun then an indication of true interest.

Honestly, to get him to realize “oh shit I actually have a chance,” you’re going to have to do two main things: 1) make him feel chosen over the others, and 2) respond to his displays of affection

Making Him Feel Chosen

This isn’t really a competition thing, or some selfish hoarding of your time. The thing is, Solomon knows he isn’t the only one in the running and he knows that anything he has to offer, somebody else could give you a portion of it.

(You won’t get the same experience or combination of traits with somebody else obvi, but with 11 suitors and an added chihuahua, there tends to be a little bit of overlap with everyone)

A crush for Solomon is a romantic interest, but if he intends on pursuing a serious relationship (which, I feel, is what he intends to be the final goal of his crushes as opposed to more casual affairs), he needs to see SOME reciprocation

Being with him is an ordeal, maybe a lifelong one for you, so he needs that assurance that it’ll be worth it and there aren’t better avenues

Basically, this means that ✨ quality time ✨ is of the utmost importance

At first, it doesn’t have to be anything big. Sit with him at lunch when you see him in the cafeteria, meet him in the library while you wait for your demon escort to be finished with their extracurriculars, chat him up in the one class you have together (and then ask him to help you study what you missed in class by talking. it’s a required transfer class but you already know everything about it, right, Solomon? 🥺)

As your relationship progresses, that’s when things start to get harder. Invite him out to things that you think he’ll enjoy, and say yes to as many excursions with him as you can. Bonus points for making it clear that you want to go when you’re unable to attend. 

(He finds himself a little embarrassed how happy it makes him when instead of just a “no” or a “sorry, not today” he gets something like “I’m on dinner duty so I have to spend that time preparing :( but we should definitely make a date so you can tell me about it later!” It makes him feel like a priority.)

It isn’t until you find yourself comfortable enough to ask him to accompany you to something you want to do that he starts to realize you’re hanging out with him for him and not because he’s just offering up a bunch of fun new experiences for you to try.

You don’t even have to say “hey, i’m pretty sure you know all about the birds in the Devildom aviary but I haven’t had a chance to go and would really like to spend the day with you. Wanna come with?” If it’s something that he knows you know isn’t in his wheelhouse, he’ll be able to figure out that OH.....you’re inviting him for HIM.....oh

Make him feel like a priority, like he’s the one that you want, even out of all your choices. You can be as enthralled by the birds in that aviary as you want, just as long as you make it clear that your enthusiasm to be with him is on the same level and he’ll finally kick himself into gear.

Responding to His Affections

Now, you don’t have to do anything you don’t like. I hear in his dame card devilgram he’s a consent king, and he stands by that every day of the week

He also isn’t the type to need an exact equal to everything he does. Yes a relationship is a two way street, but this isn’t saying that if he gets you a gift you need to present him something with equal or greater value within the next 24 hours. he’s not mammon haha i’m so FUNNY

Just...let him know that he’s doing things right. His serious relationships are few and far between and people change as often as the times do, so make sure that he knows what he’s doing is landing. He’s not insecure per se, but he would like to know that he isn’t making a fool of himself entirely, you know?

Don’t brush him off in front of the brothers or he’ll think he’s read the situation all wrong and you’re back to square one. If you do it because you don’t like touching and he put an arm around your shoulder or something, that’s fine, but if he thinks you’re uncomfortable being with him in front of the brothers he’ll wonder if you even liked him at all.

To him, a secret relationship isn’t really feasible. First of all, those brothers are ALWAYS in your business so bold of you to think you’ll have ANY secrets by the time the exchange program is done, and secondly, don’t you both have enough on your plate that you shouldn’t make something that makes you happy needlessly complicated?

He is an odd case and knows there’s a lot that comes with him, so if you’re uncomfortable simply showing that you’re in a relationship and reciprocating, he’ll think you aren’t equipped to handle.....All That.

In case you haven’t noticed, he’s weird. He’s a weirdo. He doesn’t fit in. And he doesn’t want to fit in. Have you ever seen him without that stupid cape on? That's weird.

If you respond to his affections in a similar way, such as putting you arm around his waist or a hand on his back when he puts an arm around your shoulder or reaching up to fix his hair when he reaches to mess with yours, it’ll make him happy for sure. He doesn’t have any specific expectations for you but he’ll like to feel like you’re on the same wavelength.

A lot of his affections are morphed into specific and targeted teasing (but not like *gently bullies u* teasing). It’s a lot of inside jokes at your expense (and the more inside jokes he has, the more he probably likes you)

It’s also a lot of messing up your hair, sharp pokes and frustrating games like “guess what?” “i don’t know, what?” “i told you to guess, MC.” “ugh...you won the lottery” “guess better” “please don’t do this to me Solomon”

He probably responds best to Acts of Service and Quality Time (though at any stage in the relationship he’s a flexible man). While he’s trying to woo you to solidify his spot in first place against everyone else, if you continue to make the effort to be around him or like. recognize he’s taking time out of his day to romance you and do something for him in return he’ll cement the fact that oh yeah, this is happening between the two of you

(not to say that romancing you is a chore, because it’s not, but man if it doesn’t make him happy that you’re wanting to make his life easier on him so he can pursue the other things he enjoys, too.)

What a Relationship with Solomon is Like

He isn’t the biggest person on PDA, or at least not on purpose. He won’t see you and immediately be like ‘oh there they are i need to kiss them kiss kiss kiss’ or whatever, but he’s not averse to it?

He doesn’t want physical affection to be a big deal, or at least not in public. unless that’s what you’re into ;) If the two of you are out and about and you kiss his hand, or you’re a generally physically affectionate person he’ll smile and respond and be generally unbothered by it, but don’t expect him to ever really have the desire to like make out in public or something. Really, you probably won’t get much more than a quick kiss because he DOES always have other things on his mind.

You will NOT be able to get out of him messing with you. If you need him to tone it down that’s fine, but the more you let him get away with, the less energy he’ll have to redirect into other troublemaking activities

Has a weird thing with licking too probably? like he’s not gross about it and it’s not like a NSFW fixation but he’ll do that mom thing where he licks his thumb because “you’ve got something on your cheek” and then reveal that he’s a LIAR

or he’ll put his face really close to yours and stick his tongue out when you turn your head so it hits your cheek

it just gets such a DRAMATIC reaction out of you so that’s why he does it? if you ask him genuinely to stop he will but if you comment on it he’ll just give you a small smile and not say anything then continue to do it

when he messes with you, it’s ok if you say he’s doing something weird but don’t make him feel childish. setting boundaries (and making regular observations - he is kinda weird) is more than alright but admonishing him just feels......off and will turn him sour for a bit

VERY appreciative of someone who supports his adventurous side. Also fond of someone who’s happy to tag along but knows that some things he has to do on his own.

Even if you don’t want to go, he’ll appreciate the support or the interest you show in what he does. Ask him where he’s going and what he’s doing there, but ask him because you’re interested and not because you’re overly worried.

Please be there for him when he gets back to talk about it. He really likes feeling important or cool when he tells his tales, even if all he did was go and catch a few magic salamanders or something.

PLEASE be a soundboard for all of his ideas. He knows that sometimes he’ll talk about things that are way over your head that he hasn’t learned yet, but he really does want your undivided attention. It doesn’t matter if you’re encouraging him, debating with him, telling him the idea is stupid (though don’t pull this one too often unless you intend to ask to be let in to the fun) or just watching in confusion. It’s important to him that you value what he has to say, and he hopes one day that he’ll be able to tell you anything and you’ll have a response to it all. (Even if you don’t learn magic to the degree he knows it, he hopes you’ll get to a point where you understand what he wants, even if you don’t know what magical elements he’s talking about or something.)

A relationship with Solomon is one where you’re both independent, but also can’t imagine not going to the other at the end of the day. It’s startling how quickly you become constant in the other’s life despite being in COMPLETELY different stages of magical development and learning about the demon world.

The relationship will be lots of fun, but there will be many serious moments, too. 

They’ll happen randomly. Maybe something from a class or a spell reminds him of something from his past, or maybe he’s reminded that he can’t remember so many things that he knows were important to him.

Sometimes, his Tuesday night blues will feel like a life-changing existential crises for you, but please, do what you can to be there for him in these moments. It worries him how much love and happiness he’s lost, especially when he knows he promised to remember it.

Once you get him to think aloud, he’ll say super heavy stuff life “What if I’ve forgotten who I really am and now I’m just something other people and magic have morphed me into?” or “When will the human race evolve or go extinct and leave me behind?” and it fucks you up, really. It fucks him up too

But please be patient with him, because there’s something important he has to get off his chest eventually. He’s worried already that he’ll forget you the way he’s probably forgotten so many others, but he doesn’t want to offend you and know that saying it would come off as uncaring.

You won’t have an answer for these moments, and he knows it. It’ll be best if you just hold him tight, stroke his hair if you’re laying down, and reassure him that you don’t care.

With how long he’s been alive, you’ll have to get past caring if you’re his “one true love” because he doesn’t have that. He gave up the right to having a one true love in exchange for never-ending life. But he still loves and he does love deeply, it just has a lot to cut through to properly be articulated.

So tell him. Tell him you know he’s had other loves, that you know you might not even be the best partner suited to him that he’s had. Tell him that you know when your time has come, he’ll find someone else eventually.

Tell him that what matters to you is that he loves you now, that he’s making things work with you now, and that he isn’t secretly yearning for some lover that’s come to pass or yet to come when he’s with you.

You can’t control what happened in the past or what happens in the future, but right now he’s yours and you’re his and he needs to learn to take things one lifetime at a time. Right now is YOUR Solomon time, and what happens after is just a consequence of time and you’ve already forgiven him for it.

instead of “mom says it’s my turn on the xbox” it’s “god says it’s MY turn on the Solomon”

send that to him for real and he’ll probably never forget you lol

How to Make a Relationship with Solomon Work

With all this in mind, the key to a good relationship with Solomon is keeping his head on his shoulders.

He’s ambitious, powerful, scary smart, and capable of so much more than you can even guess and he knows it. It’ll be good for him to have somebody to keep him on the ground.

Now, don’t be overbearing. If you try to stop him from going places or try to hinder his pursuit of knowledge out of fear for his safety, that’ll cause unbelievable strain on him. You will have to learn to let him work his things out the way he wants to, and it won’t always be the safest or most responsible way either.

He doesn’t mind a gentle scolding if he gets hurt. He won’t say it, but he kinda likes to be reminded how important he is to you.

Also be down to have fun and be a little reckless. Your safety will always be a priority to him, but nobody ever got anywhere without a little struggle, right? Sometimes adventuring with him and following him into the darkest magical corners of the world will require multiple (sometime literal) leaps of faith, but he’ll always be there to catch you.

Let Solomon work for you and the relationship, and you work to keep him sane and remind him that he can belong somewhere, even when he’s been himself for who knows how long and nowhere ever really stays the same.

You’ll always have to remind Solomon that not everything revolves around magic and power. He’s not been mortal for some time, so he gets caught up in the heady and lofty topics and ideas. 

Remind him about the simple joys of just having fun and goofing off, that not every moment not spent on homework has to be spent on potions. Remind him (in the human world) how cool a sunset is, or convince him to go through a museum and pretend he’s seeing everything for the first time. 

As much as he lives for understanding the grand topics most people can only dream of beginning to grasp, remind him of the little things. Remind him of human indulgences that he’s abandoned. Get him back in touch with that part of himself.

Solomon as a character feels like he’d be really aloof, but he’s honestly extremely devoted to what he invests his time in. He shows this devotion in small ways that feel more like riddles sometimes, in the way he always comes back after a rather dangerous magical excursion, in the way he shortens his time away so he can get back to you, in the way he learns to quiet his mind so he can properly take care of you and what you need and strengthen your relationship.

One thing that I think is a hallmark of a relationship with him is that Solomon loves things that can teach him more about what he doesn’t know. You don’t need to be the smartest person on the planet, or have a specialized and thorough education in some bizarre topic, or come from somewhere entirely different than what he knows to keep his interest.

You are uniquely human, and you help teach him about himself, the one thing that he can never seem to properly grasp and understand the way he wants to.

More importantly, you are you, the one who made pacts with all seven demon lords, the one captured his heart and promised to take care of it when you could throw it away for anybody else.

And you are the only one who could say those words that he believes. Hopefully, you’ll believe him when he says them, too.

[unknownwriting]

Congrats on nearing the end of your school term 🎉 I still got a couple more weeks to go myself, haha… :')

May I request Thatch with a fem. s/o?

S/o overheard Blackbeard's plan to kill Thatch and tried to warn him about it, but Thatch just waved it off as her being paranoid, overly stressed or had a nightmare. Which is understandable given that he known Teach longer than he had known her. So s/o decided to play along with that she was just overthinking, and instead opt to keep an eye out on Teach. The night of the supposed incident, Thatch had his back turned to the approaching attack, unaware, until s/o leapt out from the shadows and took the hit for him. Thatch turned around just in time to see s/o fall to the ground, and standing not too far away was Teach, holding a bloodied blade. Having lost the much needed element of surprise, Teach stood with a growing look of nervousness.

What's Thatch going to do in this scenario? …with your knowledge that Teach is absolutely going to lose, and the plot won't head down the way it's supposed to. *cough* Marineford *cough*

Also, is it alright if I request for two alternate endings: one where s/o dies, and another where s/o barely made it through after a few days spent in critical condition and comatose?

♡ Summary- fem! s/o tries her best to stop the assassination of Thatch however she finds it doesn’t go how she plans

♡ Character- Thatch

♡ Warnings- angst, major character death, blood

♡ Damn, you really choose angst. Are you ok?? 😭 but hear me out of Thatch never dies then marineford never happens and that makes me happy :)) so I can so get behind this. Also this is longer than I thought but I hope you enjoy it 💕

Unedited

- you knew about the whole thing, the devil fruit they found, the plan that Teach had and just what he would do to get it. You knew about it all. And it scared you. It scared you so much. The fact that Teach’s greed is so strong that he would kill his crew mate, his family

- for a while you just kept it to yourself, although you heard about it you didn’t know much about it or the context behind it. And you didn’t want to jump to conclusions, so for a while you just kept it to yourself until you had solid proof. But that didn’t seem to work.

- as time went on, nightmares slowly began to appear. And they didn’t stop. It was almost every night you would wake up in cold sweat, gasping for air and at the verge of tears. You couldn’t even be in the same room as Teach you always had to leave. It’s just gotten to the point where you had to tell someone, anyone. So you thought it would be best to go to the one whose in the biggest danger: Thatch.

- you and Thatch have been dating for a while now, so thought that when you had told him what your over heard that he would take your word for you. You haven’t done anything to lose his trust the only part you really had to worry about was the fact that he had known Teach longer but you went to tell him anyways only to have you immediately shoo away the thought.

- you didn’t even get to explain yourself at all before Thatch had shot you down. He didn’t even take the time to listen to you anymore. When you tried to get him to at least listen, he just continued to push you away claiming you were paranoid, not sleeping well and that you just didn’t like Teach.

- At least you had you answer now: if you can’t tell your boyfriend then there’s no way you can tell anyone else and you figured that was gonna be the case. You were new to the crew so of course everyone was gonna take Teach’s side. He was there the longest. But now that you have your answer, it was up to you to protect Thatch and anyone else.

- of course you couldn’t do anything until you learned more about it, so you spent a few nights spying around trying to figure out what exactly Teach was planning. It took a while but luckily he had a big mouth and you were able to figure out when it would happen. And so you made sure to prepare.

- now during this whole thing, both you and Thatch had began to distance yourself from each other. And y’all had your reasons. You really weren’t to upset that he had called you paranoid or anything you just need time to prepare and collect your thought. but Thatch on the other hand was upset that you would accuse him family of something like that. So although the was still mad gonna take a few days and calm down before he confronted you.

- but when he decided too, it was already to late. On the night Teach was gonna attack and you ready. Thatch on the other hand was ready to confront you and ask you about your suspicion, but when he was making your way to your fav room on the ship, Teach was quick to spring into action. Attacking Thatch in one quick movement. However, you were quicker.

- you meant to just block his attack with one of your own, however with the weird way he was swinging it was hard to counter it. So instead of clashing swords, you ended up taking the stab right into your chest. Thatch finally learn that you were right, and as soon as he heard you fall to the floor his world had shattered. He didn’t even pay any mind to Teach, who stood there panicked and frustrated, Thatch just needed to make sure you were ok first.

1st ending- s/o dies

- the guilt had already began to consume Thatch as he saw you lay on the floor soaked in your own blood and barely breathing. He just felt empty. His love of his life was just laying on the floor

- Thatch just feel speechless. He couldn’t muster a word or even a grunt. The only thing he could do was fall to the ground and crawl over to you. His emotions were a mess, he wanted to scream and cry yet her couldn’t. He was to shocked to do anything. The only thing he could do instead of looking at his lover is look at the guilty: Blackbeard

- his whole world has crashing down around him as he placed his hand on his lovers slowing heartbeat. He couldn’t do anything, he couldn’t cry, scream or even react. You were dying and all because of Thatch’s stubbornness. The only time that he was able to react was when you reached your bloody hand up to his cheek, grabbing his attention, and giving a weak smile as if to say, ‘at least your safe’

- that’s when his ear piercing scream echoed through the ship. Now grabbing everyone’s attention but none of that matter. He didn’t care if the next island heard him, none of that matter anymore now that your dead. His lover was dead due to his stubbornness.

- after the others had come to get you and Thatch and arrest Blackbeard, Thatch can’t remember what happened much after that and it didn’t matter. With you gone everything was so different. Nothing felt the same anymore.

- it didn’t take long of Thatch to fall into a deep depression. He did just watch his lover die right in front of him and the one who killed her was someone he called family. It was all his fault and there’s no changing that. If he had just listen to you none of thing would’ve happen.

2nd Ending- s/o survives but is badly injured

- once you were stabbed it was a good thing you landed with a heavy impact bc that sound was able to alert some of the others that were up and near y’all at the time. Thatch on the other hand just froze, as soon as you crashed to the floor he followed in suit frozen. Luckily the others were quick to see what happen and quick to jump into action when they saw your body covered in blood.

- Marco the first to be informed about any of this, so he could began treating you right away. They all carried you to the med bay and began to do all they could to save you. And while they were doing all this Thatch just ended up following like a mindless robot. He was still in shock with it all. He was fully aware what was going on his mind just didn’t process.

- it wasn’t until Marco had approach him did Thatch had finally processed it all and within a span of 5 seconds he was on the floor crying, screaming, cursing at himself. He was blind, way to blind. He couldn’t even see that you were trying to save him. And all bc of that you were forced into a coma nobody knows when you’ll wake up from

- at least you were still alive and Blackbeard was captured. Although Thatch still hate how he can’t see your smile or hear your laugh or feel your warmth close to him, at least you were alive. And with the Thatch was with you every second of the day, not even looking away from you.

- As if to make up for his blindness, Thatch is there to take care of you when your unconscious. Although Thatch really hated this, he was happy that you ha saved him even when he pushed you away you cotuined to protect him. It just proves how lucky he is to have you and to show how much he appreciates you, he’ll sit here and say till you wake up. No matter how long it would take. At that Thatch has to do it wait, wait till he gets to see your smile and feel your love again.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

This is now the additional salt post to accompany my CQL one about Jiang Cheng, featuring Lan Wangji (my beloved who can do no wrong but really does, especially in CQL).

And thank you again @narcissismincarnate wanting to read my messy thoughts on all of this.

So, the issue where it first runs aground with the major change in the book is making him so quick to choose to accompany Wei Wuxian during the Sunshot campaign. In the book he did not know what to think of Wei Wuxian until the Xuanwu Cave incident, his jealousy and his turmoil with having a crush on Wei Wuxian while simultaneously thinking he disliked him leads to his own hesitancy and Wei Wuxian's. He was shocked that Wei Wuxian was willing to stay with him with his injury because he had been that kid that harassed him, the removal of the archery competition was a detriment as that solidified Lan Wangji's belief that Wei Wuxian flirted to cause harm.

In CQL they are made to trust each other by that point due to the shoddy addition of the Yin Iron. In CQL Lan Wangji is certain that Wei Wuxian was always in the right and essentially, placed him on a pedestal. In the original he was still coming to terms with how to even speak with Wei Wuxian, there was no fall out like CQL with Wei Wuxian "cultivating a path of evil", his concern originally was misconstrued as judgement, because they both had a barrier of not understanding the other. Both of them believed the other hated them and they did not speak until Wei Wuxian had defected. A larger divide then before because neither understood each other, Wei Wuxian being the aggressor now and Lan Wangji being the one to back off.

The wording of significance used for the in CQL is "Zhi ji" which a lot of the western fandom takes to be romantic in context, but the issue is Wuxia/Xianxia use this word liberally for deep connections when it's supposed to be viewed as nebulous/taboo "friendship" for plausible denial even with platonic relationships that are deep by social intimacy standards. And is a standard Wuxia trope.

CQL relies on Wei Wuxian martyring himself and seeing them as unequal (woobying himself essentially). Where as in the novel his hubris is what is his downfall and believing he can figure everything out with his own arrogance. It's what makes the burial grounds meeting much more pertinent than CQL. It is Lan Wangji finally trying to step up to understand Wei Wuxian and witnessing that he is in fact in a bad position socially while protecting civilians.

It is why he tries to argue along with MianMian for the sects to leave him be. Lan Wangji is physically punished for this meeting strangely in CQL when there was really no reason at all for this. He was within his right to and uses what he learned their to argue for the Sects to leave the remnants be, but the sects ignore their words due to finding them unimportant next to the Jiang Sect and Jin Sect insisting something must be done and he was a danger.

His penultimate punishment in the book is not due to just protecting the most wanted cultivation enemy, but because he dared to go against his own sect. It is unfilial, and a death sentence if the other sects knew of his transgression. He is placing personal love over Sect reputation fully coming into a circle against what his own name sake is, he did involve himself in worldly base matters and calls himself equal to Wei Wuxian and taking punishment in solidarity.

Due to the mashing of Nightless City and the First Siege, it throws out that Lan Wangji was helpless in trying to save Wei Wuxian when he is attacked once more. His hope of Wei Wuxian pulling himself out of death is not avoided. It also is a way to insert Lan Wangji's sole purpose in this endeavor was to feel lifetime guilt. Also HOW he found A-Yuan is a massive hole in logic for CQL since he SAW Wei Wuxian die, the only reason Lan Wangji returned there presumably weeks after attacking his elders was to find Wei Wuxian's body and finding A-Yuan alive instead, the living legacy to what Wei Wuxian sacrifices his position in the cultivation world for.

CQL plays off the guilt of Lan Wangi not being able to be by Wei Wuxian's side and pining for 16 years and looking for Wei Wuxian's soul which was why he took on Nighthunts and small jobs. In the novel it is established he gained his name of "Hanguang-Jun" for helping the common people only during the Sunshot campaign, he was a light and justice for them in contrast to Wei Wuxian's boogyman reputation. It erases Lan Wangji's own growth away from Wei Wuxian and his reasoning for beginning to understand Wei Wuxian's own morals, however late it was in his first life.

It is due to his mistakes with Wei Wuxian that it is hinted at as to why he raised Lan Sizhui to be so morally upright and non-judgmental. He is still alive to give a child a better upbringing than what he and Wei Wuxian were subjected to and taught him to be more forward with his thoughts without major repression.

In the novel he has had his growth over the years to mature into someone who is more open to help Wei Wuxian, listen to him and stand as his equal. In CQL it relies on his past guilt that he has not gotten over to clear Wei Wuxian's name. It's what also what makes it so strange that after all of this, all of his 16 years of pining, to abandon Wei Wuxian at the end once more, to be... A Cultivation Chief when it is established he is not in the realm of politics at all and had been a teacher for children for a reason. He makes the same mistake again, when in the novel he had established he would stay fully by Wei Wuxian's side no matter what at Koi Tower and again with the Second Siege.

There was no more personal growth for Lan Wangji to go through making it very out of place that either of them still had something to learn and needed to be separate for an indefinite amount of time until they could be together once more. Both knew they could not be without the other by the end of the novel and are an equal united front. Something that CQL washes away for extra angst that is not needed since the ending shots are them together seconds after their parting making it null and void, and very out of character for Lan Wangji to ever leave Wei Wuxian again.

CQL contradicts the lessons that Lan Wangji learned essentially keeping him in that young stasis of mind he used to have and never really growing out of it and keeping each of his actions as an atonement of guilt instead of unconditional love that he has a chance to now offer Wei Wuxian with no stipulations. His help to Wei Wuxian is meant to be seen as unselfish as he does not demand for repayment as Jiang Cheng does and it is fully of his own volition to want better for Wei Wuxian.

It's not about atonement for Lan Wangji post-resurrection, it's about fully making it known he chose to he seen as Wei Wuxian's equal without the barrier of secrecy everyone else stuck to in life that CQL pushed over for angst fuel.

[starlightshore]

hi sorry if this seems a little rude, if chara isn't really bad, then why do they kill them on the soulless route?

(I always wanted to know about it)

(not rude at all! feel free to ask questions like this its no skin off my back) which “them” are you referring to? that could mean different things like: the underground, the player, Frisk ect. its a little vague)

but I’ll try to answer this with the above being vague anyway

---

hoo boy this ended up long LMAO. coming back from the bottom to say Sorry this ended up this lengthy. here’s some

content warnings: discussions of canon and implied dark topics such as: abuse, murder, death, suicide, and self harm

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TLDR: Chara is a complex character with a rich backstory and motivations. by looking at the full game, you understand they’re a mentally ill child who is just following the player’s directions. YOU do the killing, Chara is your partner in crime because you force them to be.

Chara is the narrator in ALL routes. they are the UI, stats and narration.

it is Chara’s memories that convinces Asriel to remember how they met and how much they loved each other when alive. Chara is key to Asriel freeing the underground, they are a god dang hero

let’s look at canon Chara pre-game to fully understand what’s going on though.

-Chara lived in a village close to mt.Ebott. they decided to climb mt.Ebott for “a not happy reason” and hated humanity

-once underground, they become the sibling to Asriel and become a full fledged Dreemurr. They love their family. “it’s a dusty photo. everyone is happy.” (which, if you believe is the photo of Chara holding the flowers next to Asriel, implies Chara is smiling under them and their bangs) + the Mr.Dad Guy sweater + baking a pie for their dad

-in the underground, there’s the Deltarune prophecy. it reads as follows: “There is a prophecy. The Angel... The One Who Has Seen The Surface... They will return. And the underground will go empty.“

-Toriel and Asgore are both strong believers of the Deltarune as seen by the symbol on their clothes and homes.

-Chara has been to the surface and therefore, most believe Chara is the angel that will free them.

-Chara is a small child, who hates humanity, loves their family, and by fate is destined to free monster-kind. they are determined.

-Chara and Asriel decide to prank Asgore by making a pie with buttercups instead of a cup of butter. They learn the flower is poisonous and Asgore gets sick, but ends up fine. Chara laughs it off, but if one is paying attention to the game, you will see that their is a very common theme of smiling/laughing when distressed.

Toriel smiling, laughing when being killed in no mercy

Migospel’s whole game-play is about how one acts around others vs. alone “ Laughter hides the pain. [Alone]”

sans can be seen as a broad example

a VERY good example is the snowdrake’s mother fight:

“You laugh, and keep laughing. It's SO funny, you can't stop. Tears run down your face. | ... what? You didn't do that? [Laugh]

But it's not funny. [Laugh again]”

-Chara hates humanity (epilogue Asriel says that) and by extension, would hate themself. you can read into the tools being worn down to being blunt + no knives in the kitchen as being precautions Toriel put in place to prevent Chara from self-harming. Chara attempts suicide twice in the game’s story.. Also! It’s implied Chara was abused before coming underground. “ If you're cuter, monsters won't hit you as hard.-faded ribbon flavor text” and the fact Chara thought to kill the villagers in the first place, they didn’t get the “kill or be killed” mindset out of nowhere. + abuse can manifest in depression, anxiety, and Chara displays behaviors of coping with abuse. (harder to explain that detail, but Chara’s control-issues and distrust just SCREAMS abuse to me)

Chara is a kid with severe mental illness, implied to be abused, and all while younger than 13. that’s a lot to take in. which is also why a lot of people are upset at “Chara is evil” theories because it ignores that context and demonizes them. which is. bad. for lots of reasons. but mainly for how it handles the topic of survivors of abuse and mental illness and they’re just a freaking kid.

-anyway, long tangent aside... so this next point is more so how I interpret the order of events: Chara climbs the mountain to die, but trips and meets the Dreemurs. They become beloved by the kingdom and believed to be their savior. Chara can’t escape humanity’s history of trapping monsters or their own history of their horrible village, and when Asgore is poisoned they realize they’re bad too. It’s a common mindset of suicidal people to want to die before their image is tarnished. die while things are still “good,” when they’re still remembered fondly.

to cross the barrier, you need to have a human soul AND a monster soul. if Chara wanted to, they could of killed any of the Dreemurrs and absorbed their soul. But instead, the buttercup plan is a really freaking horrible way to die. Buttercup poisoning is awful. seriously, look up the symptoms. it’s bad. which is also why i believe Chara hated themself so much to put up with that form of death. -then they die, and become part of the Asriel and Chara fusion. (it should be stated they did not know Chara would be conscious.) the plan they agree on is to kill enough humans to break the barrier and free monster-kind, but Chara wants revenge, which is why they want to kill the humans and not negotiate like Toriel suggests Asgore could of done.

-Humans of course freak out at seeing them + their corpse and attack. Asriel realizes Chara was wrong and doesn’t want to murder, lets himself be killed. As they’re dying Chara screams “its kill or be killed” and both die. -years, possibly a century later depending on what side of the time-skip debate you’re on, Chara awakens in Frisk’s body and interacts with You, the player.

-they likely see you as the True Angel, and follow your orders just as Frisk just kinda vibes and does so as well.

-if you keep murdering, frisk distances themself from the world. (implied by what sans says about LV): * LOVE, too, is an  acronym. * It stands for "Level of  Violence." * A way of measuring someone's  capacity to hurt. * The more you kill, the  easier it becomes to  distance yourself. * The more you distance  yourself, the less you  will hurt. * The more easily you  can bring yourself to  hurt others. 

-Frisk, NOPEing out of the whole thing, just leaves Chara, who feels like they are the literal stats of the universe. THAT is why Chara is only really fully present in no mercy, and only narration otherwise. Frisk’s autonomy and how much control they have are directly tied to your LV. Frisk is only named in the pacifist ending because they’re rewarded with the acknowledgement that they’re a person.

-The biggest detail is that it’s not Chara who kills, but YOU. Chara is your partner in crime, and only attacks the player when you refuse to ERASE the world and they kill you themself. it is your power and your determination that brought them to this world, and it is through your actions they believe power is the only they must fight for.

-also, both Chara and frisk are influenced by the player and react differently depending on your actions. (the dog food bag is described as “half full/half empty” depending on your LV, a reference to how one looks at glasses of water to be more optimistic/pessimistic and Frisk will feel good/bad depending on LV when punching the mad dummy in waterfall.) Chara is always just following your lead. they’re not controlling Frisk, you are. however, they are in control of the choices (as confirmed in no mercy you don’t get to choose answers for papyrus’ question and he calls you out on it. personally i like to think each choice answer is from each kid)

anyway yeah that's my overly long analysis of how Chara’s backstory is used to define who they are and then how being revived from the dead, they follow your steps to apply the “kill or be killed” logic to it’s extreme end.

also, its not like Chara is happy about following your orders either.

they think a plant is judging you. they talk about your sins in the sans fight. they call Undyne a hero despite fighting her. Chara doesn’t want to kill Asriel, but once it happens they go ballistic, stabbing repetitively, clearly upset. that then instantly gets them powerful enough to destroy the world, as with how LV is described as distancing yourself and such. Asriel meant the MOST out of everyone, he was their best friend, forever.

[glimmerglanger]

out of his system - jangobi fic

ALRIGHT SO, the prompt for subobi week today is one of my squicks. BUT, I still want to post something and also I have too many ideas. This particular idea is a bit of an au I’ve been plotting for a while (thanks @mocha-bear). I don’t actually have any of the rest of it written! This is set pretty early on in it, though….

Anyway, this is Jangobi (is my first written piece of Jangobi stuff that’s more than a snippet going to be pure spice? Yes, it is.) AU where things went significantly worse for Obi-Wan during/after Bandomeer and he never got back to the Jedi. Technically an AU where things went slightly BETTER for Jango and he ends up free to do what he wants earlier than in canon after Galidraan. So, he’s working as a bounty hunter and has been for a bit. He’s….around 29 in this. 

Technically, if this had a prompt to fill, it would probably be sex work? So, warnings for Obi-Wan being in a brothel (not capable of giving full consent to anything). Not safe for wizards. BJs. Spicy. This is the F+J of subobi week, in that it is eventually going to be a 60k fic, whoops.

~~~~~~~~

Jango knew well enough he had no reason to go back to Trolk VI. As far as shitty planets on the Outer Rim went, it wasn’t particularly impressive. Most of the economy seemed generated by the fighting pits or the pleasure houses surrounding them.

Jango had little interest in either of those pursuits. 

Most of the time.

He’d visited pleasure houses before, though mostly because the places seemed to draw his bounties in the same way that a wailing, dying thing drew the attentions of a starving predator. He’d bagged more than one bounty while they were in the middle of….their business. 

His visit to a pleasure house on Trolk VI had not been such a success story. He’d ducked into the building in a rush to avoid the group that had already shot him twice - someday, he’d learn to stop walking into ambushes - and he’d barged into one of the rooms for the same reason.

His plan had been to hide somewhere, or go out the window again. But his pursuers had been close and there’d been someone on the bed already, stirring around in a loose, gossamer gown, and he’d thought, ragged-edged, that the people after him had no idea what he looked like, out of his armor.

His pursuers had apologized, moments later, when they opened the door to find him on the bed, stretched - miming the act of a good, hard fuck - over it’s first occupant, one of his hands over the kid’s mouth, just in case he got any bright ideas about screaming, even as dark spots had swam all across Jango’s vision.

He’d managed to avoid passing out until after the door shut again. 

It had been a shock when he woke up again. Even more of a shock to realize that the whore had bandaged his wounds, neatly, and even applied bacta. He’d been a pretty thing, Jango had registered, but most whores were, and Jango hadn’t had the time to consider it. He’d left, dropping some extra credits on the bed, and never planned to think about Trolk VI again.

And he didn’t, really.

But he did find himself thinking about the whore, his copper-red hair and wide, surprised eyes, and the unusually thick and battered collar around his neck. His thoughts kept spiralling around to the boy - over and over - and distraction wasn’t something he could afford. Not in his line of work. Not in his life.

Obviously, he’d needed to get his fixation out of his system. And so he ended up back on Trolk VI, in the pleasure district. He walked into the house through the front door, sneering at the proprietor behind his mask, half-sure that the woman wouldn’t know who he was talking about - he hadn’t gotten the whore’s name, after all.

But they must not have had many other male humanoids with reddish hair to choose from. She tittered happily enough, told him he’d made a good choice by selecting Ben - evidently the boy’s name - and waved a hand to have him led up the stairs.

The house was well-off. HIgh-end. It didn’t stink of sweat or sex; instead some care seeemd to have been taken to ensure it was all pleasant scents, soft music, dim lights. Jango ignored the droid’s request for a tip when he was delivered to a door he remembered.

He stepped into the room quietly. Nothing had really changed, he noted. A bed predominated the room, covered in soft fabrics. There was a bench along one wall, a chair. Hooks, here and there, on the walls and ceiling. He could imagine a use for each.

And each use was connected to the only other figure in the room - the boy, Ben - sitting on the side of the bed, a container of bacta open by his hip, a gossamer robe slid off of one shoulder, revealing an array of fading marks, skin shiny from the bacta application. 

He blinked over at Jango right away, eyes stunningly blue, his hair a tangle around his jaw - like someone had been playing with it - and his mouth reddened. His drooping robe did almost nothing to hide his shoulders and chest - there were marks there, too - or the traces of a flush over his throat.

Jango looked at him and felt a kick in his gut, almost shocking.

He couldn’t recall, really, the last time he’d felt directed desire.

He’d begun to think he just wouldn’t, ever again.

Ben recovered first, which was a lurching shock, and tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowing just a little. He asked, his voice all wrong for a brothel in the Outer Rim - Jango heard that accent on his clients from the Core, and nowhere else, “Should I expect armed men to burst in after you, again?”

There was something satisfying to being recognized so quickly, but, then, he was sure he’d made an impression, last time. Jango shook himself, snorting, and said, “Not this time. Disappointed?”

Ben’s mouth quirked, just a little. He wasn’t….acting in quite the way Jango expected from a whore. Certainly there was no fawning about as he dipped his fingers once more into the bacta, spread a line of it across his shoulder, and asked, “Only a little. And you recovered?”

Jango remembered, clearly, blinking his way to consciousness with his head in Ben’s lap, the boy trailing gentle fingers over his brow, murmuring some strange lullaby that had seemed familiar from somewhere and--

He shook the thoughts away, taking a step forward as the boy closed the bacta jar and stood, carrying it across the room. “I’m well enough,” he said, looking at the fading marks across the boy’s back.

There were reddened marks, fading, long and straight. He recognized lashes, when he saw them. There were other imprints, on his shoulders and arms, fingerprints, perhaps, and the shape of a mouth, here and there.

And below those marks there was scar tissue, old and ragged. Uglier than he’d have expected on a pleasure slave. Especially one so lovely as this boy, who had to be worth more undamaged. Taken with the heavy, ugly collar around his neck - something Jango hadn’t seen on any of the brothel’s other….employees - it was leaving him with multiple questions.

He crossed the room while Ben arranged the bacta, apparently unconcerned, even when Jango touched one of the marks, with just one finger. “Better than you,” he added, and the boy looked over his shoulder, robe sliding a little further down his back.

“Apologies,” he said, “sometimes the bacta takes a while to work.”

Jango frowned, shaking himself again. He hadn’t come here to chit-chat with a whore. He’d come here to - to burn away his fascination with this boy, before it distracted him any further. Considering the sight of his glove on Ben’s skin wasn’t helping with that. It didn’t matter that, for whatever reason, he didn’t like the marks.

It had been a long time since he fucked anyone at all. That was all. Years, he thought.

His body had, obviously, had enough of waiting, and his head had fixated on Ben, because he’d been warm and pliant, when Jango stretched over him, because he had a red mouth and clear eyes, and legs a parsec long. He’d fuck the boy, get it out of his system, and move on.

Decided, he took a step back, and snapped, lifting his helmet off, “Do you waste so much time with all your clients?”

“No,” Ben said, agreeably, meeting his gaze evenly. “I’m very adaptable.”

Jango wondered, sudden and dark, just how adaptable he was. He said, voice getting thicker, “Help me with this.”

“Of course.” Ben had long, clever fingers, Jango noted, removing his armor quickly and steadily, setting each piece aside carefully. He was tall, too, all stunningly long legs and with a hint of coltishness still about him, not fully grown into his shoulders. 

It felt...strange, to be out of his armor in front of someone else. But Ben had seen it all, already. He’d seen Jango bleeding out, and had decided, for whatever reason, to patch him up instead of leaving him to die and stealing the armor and the rest of Jango’s credits.

The beskar alone would have been enough to buy out whatever price the boy’s owners wanted for him, unless the boy was something really special. 

It made no kriffing sense that Ben had kept him alive. People didn’t do that, didn’t just - help, for no reason at all. Especially not when it would serve them better to do otherwise. Jango caught Ben’s wrists, when he reached for the closures at Jango’s belt, and said, roughly, “You could have killed me, before.”

Ben looked over at him, down, just a bit. He didn’t slouch, made no effort to make himself look smaller, which--Jango realized he quite liked. “Kill you?” Ben asked, tilting his head to the side. “Why would I kill you? I don’t even know your name.”

“Is that a prerequisite?” Jango asked, and realized, with another hot lurch in his gut, that he wanted to hear the boy say his name. Maybe scream it, a few times.

Ben shrugged. He said, dry, “It seems a bare minimum to know, before killing someone. Don’t you think?” 

“You’ve got a mouth on you,” Jango said, and heard the appreciation in his own voice, unplanned, just...blossoming there. Alarming. He was supposed to be here to fuck this boy, to get rid of the thoughts that had plagued him. It was past time he made some progress in that direction. He released Ben’s wrists, handled his belt on his own, and said, “Maybe you should make better use of it.”

“As you wish,” Ben said. He raised an eyebrow at Jango and kept eye contact as he sank down to his knees, lovely and with that wisp of a robe still around him, half-obscuring his body before he hesitated and….shrugged it off, letting it pool around his legs.

He was lovely as Jango remembered; lovelier, perhaps, without Jango’s blood smeared across his skin. Jango bit his tongue, reached out, and fisted a hand in the boy’s hair, Ben still looking up at him, and said, “I expect to be impressed.”

Ben’s mouth curved, sharp, just for a moment as Jango jerked his slacks open with his free hand, just enough to pull his cock out and he didn’t know exactly when he’d gotten so hard. Maybe as soon as he’d stepped into the room.

“I aim to please,” Ben said, and before Jango could make a reply, the boy pulled forward just a bit against the hold in his hair, and licked across the head of Jango’s cock, and--

And it had been a long time since anything touched him but his own hand. He hadn’t even wanted to fuck his fist, for an age. He’d been….not content, really, but willing to just ignore erections until they went away.

He swore, tightening his grip and rocking his hips, sliding his cock into the hot, wet perfection of Ben’s mouth. The boy kept his eyes upturned, staring while Jango watched his cock slide past reddened lips, draw back again all wet and slick. And it was -- perfect.

Jango’s jaw clenched shut, hard, and he slid his other hand into Ben’s hair, too, the waves of it catching at his gloves - he hadn’t gotten as far as removing them - as he held the boy’s head just so, fucking into his mouth.

He could feel Ben’s tongue, rolling against the bottom of his cock, and the boy sucked, noisily, in time with each shallow thrust, loud, his mouth and cheeks getting wet, even before Jango swore and anchored him in place, pushing further.

Ben’s eyes fluttered, when Jango properly fucked into his mouth, into his throat. He felt the boy restrain a choke, watched his eyes get shiny and wet, cheeks getting blotchy with red, the color spreading each time Jango shoved forward, his breath hitching and wet, and still, he kept his eyes open, staring up and--

Jango blinked and jerked his head to the side, swearing viciously when he came, knowing, with a strange, twisting feeling, that he was never going to forget those blue eyes just watching him, the entire time. 

He ground his hips forward and then pulled on Ben’s hair, dragging him back and off.

The boy gasped for breath, audibly gulping at the air, and Jango dared a look back at him, kneeling there on the floor, mouth and jaw wet with spit, mouth brilliant red, breathing so hard his whole body shook with it, one of his hands braced on the ground, apparently for balance, even as he glanced up and asked, his voice wrecked and hoarse, “Impressed?”

“I’m getting there,” Jango rasped back, taking his fingers out of the boy’s hair. He had - at least - another hour of time. He found he very much wanted to use it. Perhaps even extend the arrangement. He’d had a few very good jobs. He could afford an entire night, easily. He exhaled, want curling down his spine, and ordered, “Go on, onto the bed. I want between your legs again. Properly, this time.”